The updates released for ARC Raiders between January and April 2026 have done more than just enrich the game with new gameplay modes; they also include refinements to core mechanics to ensure they strike a balance between accessibility and logical consistency. For now, you must still gather materials and upgrade your stations from scratch following each reset.Of course, the workshop hasn't remained entirely static over these past few months. Based on the adjustments made so far, we'll introduce everything you need to know about upgrading stations and other workshop-specific mechanics like Scrappy, following the release of the Riven Tides update.

Understanding the Workshop Structure

Your workshop in Speranza is the backbone of all progression. It consists of seven upgradeable crafting stations plus one permanent fixture, the basic Workbench. Each station specializes in a different category of gear, and every station can be upgraded up to Level 3, with each new tier unlocking more powerful crafting recipes. Only the Workbench remains at a fixed level, providing a reliable baseline for basic ammo, starter weapons like the Ferro, Hairpin, Kettle, and Stitcher, and essential consumables such as Bandages and Shield Rechargers.

Crafting Station Breakdown and Upgrade Paths

Gunsmith

The Gunsmith is your primary station for firearms, weapon attachments, and modifications. It is arguably the most impactful upgrade path for combat-focused players.

Level 1 requires 20 Metal Parts and 30 Rubber Parts. It unlocks additional weapons like the Rattler alongside a range of attachments including Angled Grips, Compensators, Extended Magazines, Muzzle Brakes, and Stable Stocks.

Level 2 requires 3 Rusted Tools, 5 Mechanical Components, and 8 Wasp Drivers. This tier unlocks the Arpeggio, a solid mid-range rifle.

Level 3 requires 3 Rusted Gears, 5 Advanced Mechanical Components, and 4 Sentinel Firing Cores. This final tier unlocks the Bettina and the Renegade, high-end weapons that justify the steep material cost. The Bettina received a notable buff in Riven Tides, with increased base damage and improved ARC armor penetration, making it a compelling target for late-game crafters.

Medical Lab

Survivability hinges on your Medical Lab. This station crafts all healing and support consumables.

Level 1 requires 50 Fabric and 6 ARC Alloy, unlocking Herbal Bandages, Shield Rechargers, and Adrenaline Shots.

Level 2 requires 2 Cracked Bioscanners, 5 Durable Cloth, and 8 Tick Pods, unlocking Sterilized Bandages and Surge Shield Rechargers.

Level 3 requires 3 Rusted-Shut Medical Kits, 8 Antiseptic, and 5 Surveyor Vaults, unlocking Vita Sprays and Vita Shots. The Vita Spray is especially valuable for aggressive playstyles due to its instant-use healing, though Riven Tides patched an issue where it was healing faster than intended when used on self and others simultaneously.

Gear Bench

The Gear Bench is your defense hub, producing shields and augments -- the items that define your combat role.

Level 1 requires 25 Plastic Parts and 30 Fabric, unlocking Light and Medium Shields alongside the Looting, Combat, and Tactical Mk.1 augments.

Level 2 requires 3 Power Cables, 5 Electrical Components, and 5 Hornet Drivers, unlocking the Heavy Shield and Mk.2 augment variants.

Level 3 requires 3 Industrial Batteries, 5 Advanced Electrical Components, and 6 Bastion Cells, unlocking the full suite of Mk.3 augment specializations such as Combat (Aggressive), Combat (Flanking), Looting (Cautious), Looting (Survivor), Tactical (Defensive), and Tactical (Healing).

Explosives Station

For players who favor crowd control and area denial, the Explosives Station is essential.

Level 1 requires 50 Chemicals and 6 ARC Alloy, crafting Gas Grenades and Light Impact Grenades.

Level 2 requires 3 Synthesized Fuel, 5 Crude Explosives, and 5 Pop Triggers, unlocking Blaze, Shrapnel, and Snap Blast Grenades.

Level 3 requires 3 Laboratory Reagents, 5 Explosive Compound, and 3 Rocketeer Drivers, unlocking Heavy Fuze Grenades, Explosive Mines, and the Wolfpack.

Utility Station

The Utility Station produces tactical gadgets that support flexible and creative playstyles.

Level 1 requires 50 Plastic Parts and 6 ARC Alloy, crafting Barricade Kits, Binoculars, Door Blockers, Smoke Grenades, and Ziplines.

Level 2 requires 2 Damaged Heat Sinks, 5 Electrical Components, and 6 Snitch Scanners, unlocking Lure Grenades and Raider Hatch Keys alongside Ziplines.

Level 3 requires 3 Fried Motherboards, 5 Advanced Electrical Components, and 4 Leaper Pulse Units, unlocking the Photoelectric Cloak, Snap Hook, and Tagging Grenades. Note that the Photoelectric Cloak was significantly nerfed in Riven Tides: its weight increased from 1 to 3 and its power consumption rate jumped from 2.5/s to 10/s. It remains powerful while active, but you now need to be far more intentional about when and where you use it.

Refiner

Unlike other stations, the Refiner does not craft gear. Instead, it converts abundant basic materials into the rare, advanced components required for high-level crafting and upgrades across all other stations.

Level 1 requires 60 Metal Parts and 5 ARC Powercells, producing mid-tier components like Crude Explosives, Durable Cloth, Electrical Components, and Mechanical Components.

Level 2 requires 3 Toasters, 5 ARC Motion Cores, and 8 Fireball Burners, producing Advanced Electrical Components, Advanced Mechanical Components, Antiseptic, ARC Circuitry, and other valuable intermediates.

Level 3 requires 3 Motors, 10 ARC Circuitry, and 6 Bombardier Cells, producing Magnetic Accelerators, Power Rods, and Complex Gun Parts.

The Refiner becomes vital once your other stations hit Level 2, as it reduces your dependence on RNG-based farming by producing advanced components from bulk materials.

How Scrappy Works

Scrappy is the mechanical rooster who has been a resident of your workshop since the day you moved in. He passively generates basic materials while you explore Topside, making him one of the most valuable workshop features to invest in early.

Scrappy brings back Metal Parts, Fabric, Plastic Parts, Chemicals, Rubber Parts, and Assorted Seeds. The amount you receive depends on his level, the minimum time you spent in a raid, and whether you extracted successfully. You must spend at least one minute in a raid to receive anything from Scrappy; surrendering a few seconds in will not net you any rewards. The maximum reward threshold is reached at 15 minutes spent in-raid, meaning whether you stay 15 minutes or 40, the payout is the same. Importantly, the timer is based on your personal time in the raid, not the raid's overall duration. If you spawn in with 18 minutes remaining on the raid clock and extract at 11 minutes, Scrappy calculates your reward based on roughly 6 minutes of participation, not 15.

Scrappy will hold up to 50 of each item, including Assorted Seeds, even though the UI displays Assorted Seeds with a stack size of 100. Check back frequently to avoid wasting potential passive income. Upgrading Scrappy increases the quantity and variety of materials he delivers, so prioritizing his upgrades pays dividends throughout your entire progression.

Blueprint Acquisition and Usage

Blueprints are the gatekeeping mechanic for crafting. You cannot craft an item until you find its blueprint in a raid and successfully extract with it. Blueprints are most reliably found in the loot containers of locked rooms, though they can occasionally appear as quest rewards. During special in-game events, high-value containers tend to have improved drop rates for rare blueprints, making event participation one of the most efficient farming strategies.

Once you locate a blueprint, place it in your Safe Pocket to guarantee you will be able to learn it upon returning to Speranza. If you die with a blueprint in your regular inventory, it is lost. Back in the workshop, consuming the blueprint adds it permanently to the relevant crafting station. A previously learned blueprint will display a check mark in the top-right corner of its icon, making it easy to distinguish from unlearned copies during future raids.

However, if you find yourself unable to locate a specific blueprint or are struggling to gather the rare materials needed for station upgrades, getting ARC Raiders items for sale on MMOEXP offers a much faster alternative. This can be particularly helpful when you are rebuilding your workshop after an Expedition reset and want to shortcut the early grind.

The Expedition Reset: Honest Assessment and Workarounds

The Expedition system is ARC Raiders' voluntary prestige mechanic, unlocked at Level 20. When you choose to depart on an Expedition, your Raider's character-level progress resets. Workshop station upgrades, blueprints, inventory,ARC Raiders coins, and skill points are all wiped. What you keep includes unlocked maps, codex entries, Raider Tokens, cosmetics, and bonus stash slots or skill points earned from previous Expeditions. Workshop stations themselves remain available, but they drop back to Level 1, meaning you must re-gather all materials and re-upgrade every station.

This reset has been a source of community frustration, particularly because early communication from Embark Studios suggested that workshop levels might be retained. As of the Riven Tides update, that is not the case. The practical impact is significant: re-upgrading stations requires scarce materials like Rusted Gears, Sentinel Firing Cores, and Bastion Cells, all of which demand targeted farming runs in high-risk zones.

To work around the reset efficiently, consider the following strategies. First, prioritize upgrading the Gunsmith and Medical Lab immediately after a reset, as these two stations have the greatest impact on your survival and lethality in raids. Second, invest in Scrappy upgrades early so that passive material generation accelerates your rebuild. Third, use the Refiner as a force multiplier; unlocking it to Level 2 as quickly as possible allows you to convert bulk common materials into the advanced components you need, reducing your reliance on rare drops. Fourth, focus your early raids on locked rooms and event containers to recover critical blueprints fast. Finally, take advantage of the streamlined onboarding after a reset: all maps and station types are available from the start, so you skip the early unlock grind that new players face.

Riven Tides and the Workshop: What Changed

While Riven Tides did not overhaul the workshop system directly, several of its changes affect how you interact with it. The weapon durability rework means common weapons degrade faster while Legendary weapons last longer, which makes upgrading the Gunsmith to Level 3 more important than ever if you want to craft high-tier firearms that hold up in extended engagements. The Photoelectric Cloak nerf changes the value proposition of pushing the Utility Station to Level 3; the cloak is still strong but no longer the dominant tactical tool it once was. The addition of new items like the Powered Descender and Crash Mat means new blueprints to hunt for, and the Beachcombing mechanic on the Riven Tides map provides an additional avenue for acquiring materials and loot that feed directly back into your workshop progression.

The workshop remains the heart of your long-term progression in ARC Raiders. Understanding each station's role, investing wisely after resets, and staying current with the balance changes introduced in updates like Riven Tides will keep your Raiders equipped and ready for whatever the Rust Belt throws at them next.